June 2015

June 13, 2015

For our last full day in Cape Town, sandra and I did the Robben Islandwhich is located in the bay of Cape Town and can only be reached via a 45minute or so ferry ride. It is a very flat island and is now a worldheritage site. The island was first used as a leper colony but laterbecame a prison for political prisoners. Nelson Mandela was incarceratedhere for 18 of the 27 years he was in prison. Nelson Mandela vividlydescribed his life on the island in his acclaimed autobiography which Ienjoyed immensely.

The tour was fascinating and highly recommended as it is lead by formerpolitical prisoners. I had just finished the autobiography so it wassurreal walking through the prison that Nelson Mandela described in thebook. It's a must see when visiting South Africa.

After spending the morning we headed back to Cape Town on the ferry wherewe saw a whale! We then called uber to take us to the Old Biscuit Factoryneighborhood where a famous weekend market was taking place. We didn't seeanything we liked but we had a fabulous lunch at an Italian place therewith wine of course.

We then went back to the hotel and decided to spend the rest fm the dayshopping. I went to the famous harbor for shopping where I found a greatboutique that had reasonable priced clothes that were further discounted asa sale was going on. We then met up again at the hotel, had a cocktail andsince we had a huge lunch,hung out in the hotel rooms and had an earlynight.

My flight left early on Sunday so had lots of packing to do but did spend afew moments reflecting on the great trip.. Probably one of the best tripsI've ever taken. Again, feel very very fortunate to be able to take thesetrips.

I would love to come back again to Africa and explore more of thisbeautiful continent.

The Boat

View of Table Mountain covered in clouds --- the tablecloth

Welcome to Robben Island

Our guide who was a political prisoner here

The cells

Before there were beds, the prisoners got a mat. That is what Nelson Mandela got when he first arrived in Robben Island

June 05, 2015

While Sandra decided to go golfing, Nicky, Priscilla and I decided to spendthe day touring the city and do some shopping. And it was a great day togo tour the city as it was a sunny clear day with blue skies which meantideal conditions to go to table mountain.

Our very knowledgable and gentle guide Thomas drove us to Table Mountainand put us on a spectacular funicular that rotated while going up so we got a360 degree view as we were going to the top. My first impression of tablemountain? It looked like someone built the mountain with layers of rock. Itis the symbol of Cape Town and is a very unique mountain . Many times anominous cloud covers the mountain which drops the temperature and lookslike a white table cloth over the mountain. We spent an hour or so at thetop and enjoyed the spectacular views.

After taking the fun funicular back down it was time to explore the cityand do some shopping. We first went to the Greenmarket square in thecenter of town. Historically it has served as a slave market, vegetablemarket, parking lot and now a flea market for African goods. We had funexploring the place and Nicky and Priscilla picked up a few things. We thenwalked by Desmond Tutu's church and visited Tribal Trends one of the mostfamous stores in Africa for African artwork. And we went nuts! I loved thedifferent masks depicting different animals so bought a few and also pickedup jewelry and some Xmas presents for my sister.

After some intense shopping we drove around the town and had lunch atSignal Hill in the multi-cultural and very cool neighborhood of Bo-Kaap. Ihad a great salad and we learned a lot about Thomas home country Congo.

After lunch we went to the neighborhood spice store that catered to theMuslims. It was fun and I got their special curry spice mix which I can'twait to try.

And because the USD is so strong the prices were phenomenal for everything!

We got back to our hotels at a reasonable time. I met up with Sandra atour hotel where we had a cocktail, freshened up and then met up with Nickyand Priscilla again to go out to dinner on the beach to catch the sunset.We went to Paranga which was highly recommended and did not disappoint.

After another fabulous day in Cape Town we had champagne at Cape Gracewhere Nicky and Priscilla were staying as it was the last night to seethem. It was GREAT to see them in South Africa and so blessed to havegreat friends. I can't wait to see them again and this time in Tuscanyin fall :))

View of Capetown from Table Mountain

View of Camps Bay from Table Mountain

And saw a curious animal enjoying the view also

View of Robben's Island

And these cute creatures are called Dassies which are small but related to the elephant!